An Exciting New Project For Young Readers
We’re working on an exciting new project (on Kickstarter–more about that in a moment)!
Shiny 2nd editions are under construction! We’re looking at all of the details to make books that are as friendly as possible for young readers and the people who love them!
Now I’m ready to collaborate with a designer and with YOU–if you’d like to join in!
Artist, Polina Sizova, and I are making awesome new covers and brainstorming extras to appeal to the choosy and discerning 🙂 middle grade readers. (ages 9 to 12)
Come over to Kickstarter and follow our project. Most of it is hidden behind Kickstarter’s preview page, but we’ll let you in behind-the-scenes if you let us know where to reach you.
What size book is exactly right?
I calculated the size of the books and made graph paper mock-ups, so we could compare them to middle grade books on my shelf.
What looks inviting to the reader?
How chunky should the spine be?
The page count determines how thick a book will be in your hand, and the bigger each page is, the more words fit comfortably per page.
But your eyes are most comfortable reading a fairly narrow column of text–you don’t lose your place as easily.
Each printer has a calculator to figure out the spine width based on the page count and the choice of paper. Fluffy newsprint-y paper called “Groundwood” makes the spine thicker.
Because that’s the important question, right? How can we entice kids away from screens and back into enjoying books?
I’ve written and edited and designed Seven Kingdoms Fairy Tales for the last 10 years, mostly on my own. So, I’m really enjoying collaborating with a top-notch designer. The creative energy is off the charts!
Now, I’m inviting you to participate in the process, so my books can better serve your young readers!
In the list below, have I missed something you or your young readers need? Let me know on email or on my contact form.
Here’s my current list of goals for this project:
- Collaborate with an artist to make the books as appealing on the outside as they are on the inside.
- Appeal to the right age group. The current covers look too young for intricate, zany, and light-hearted stories inside.
- Deepen the enjoyment of reading with bonus content–a map? a family tree? a glossary for the world of the Seven Kingdoms?
- Encourage readers to stay in the reading zone with samples of the next books.
- Local new editions of English books in Germany for craft fairs, local bookstores, and libraries . . . or castles?
- Improved accessibility for ebook editions. I used images of words in the first editions, not knowing that this is a challenge for machine-readers.
- Level up the books, because I grew as I wrote the books, as a writer, storyteller, and publisher.
- Offer preferred book sizes and formats by country.
What is Kickstarter?
What is Kickstarter anyway and what does it have to do with books? It’s kind of the opposite of AI tools–it’s a way to get humans together and bring a new creative project into the world. Kickstarter is a short-term way to test the interest for a project, before it’s created. The timeline for “backing” a project is tight, so the creators can get going with successful projects.
Kickstarter projects have a firm end date for several reasons. If the projects reach their financial goal, the funds go to the creator.
If not, supporters or “backers” are not charged anything. The project creators have to start again.
This set-up is meant to protect “backers” from receiving poor quality creations and to protect creators from knocking themselves out to create something with too few resources.Â
The time limit isn’t hype, because it brings supporters together at one time. This means authors can order special editions of books, set up print runs to make a specialized project, or find out if readers are as excited about the book as the author is.
Some books are just too labor-intensive to be produced unless there are readers eager and waiting.
If you want to be part of the generosity and creativity of a Kickstarter project, or just see what all the fuss is about, click on the button below and get the details.
Have you ever wondered why
[insert great book idea of your choice here]
hasn’t been written? Or why
[favorite book by a living author]
isn’t available in the format you prefer, you might be interested in Kickstarter.
Kickstarter is set up to let you influence what gets “made” next. How?
You can “back” projects you want to see in the world and ignore the ones you don’t.
You can let others know about projects you like.
When enough people come together and “back” a Kickstarter project, in a 2-3 week period, the project will meet its “funding goal”. This means the author will have the necessary resources to make the project and is now committed to delivering the exciting “rewards” you have chosen.
If a project doesn’t have enough backers to bring a project to life, it won’t meet its funding goal. The creator of the project won’t receive any funds. Backers won’t make any payments and won’t receive any rewards.
This set-up protects both creators and backers.
How to Know a Kickstarter Project is "Live"
Most Kickstarters are only live for 2-3 weeks, so it’s easy to miss out. There’s a handy trick to be notified when it goes “live”. You’ll need a free account on Kickstarter. Then you can click on the “Notify me on launch” button underneath any project description. It looks like this:
If you click on this button, it will take you to the short preview for my Kickstarter project. Go ahead and click on it if you want to be notified when my project goes live.
Once Kickstarter notifies you that the project has launched, you’ll be able to see the full details of the project.
Found something wonderful? Here's what to do next:
Like all internet things, Kickstarter has its own vocabulary and customs. Here’s a handy infographic to give you the lay of the land.
